I just got a link removal request - from a spammer...

[graeme_p]

I just got a link removal request for links from not very successful (candidate for shutdown - one I definitely decide against trying to revive it) Q & A forum.

The links were to spam posts that had been removed, but remained accessible on a page showing past revisions. Of course my eye was off the ball in not having spotted this problem myself.

The reason they sent the request is that they have received an unnatural links penalty, and serve them right too - unless they are victims of negative SEO, of course.

[curlykarl]

And?

[n0tSEO]

So, did you remove the links from the old revision page? Or are you just going to dismiss the request?

[robzilla]

Funny :-) A rare case of a useful spammer.

[LifeinAsia]

This is definitely a case for asking for payment to have the links removed if I ever saw one. :)

[graeme_p]

@robzilla, exactly!

I need the links removed or unspiderable, not so much because I want to oblige them, but because I do not want spam links on my site! I have added the revision pages to robots.txt, and nofollowed the links to those pages.

Its a great pity Google Webmaster tools does not have wildcard link removal as there are rather a lot of these pages to remove in one go.

One more amusing bit. They asked me to contact them if I had any questions, or wanted a fill list of links - but they contacted me through a contact form on the site, and did not provide their email address. Someone cheap cutting and pasting requests into a long lists of sites I guess.

[ken_b]

I have added the revision pages to robots.txt

If they are already indexed you probably need to undo that and put a meta noindex on the pages themselves.

That way the search engines will de-index the pages.

[Shai]

I think its important to realise that many site owners have trusted SEO companies to do a good job and in many cases it was the companies or seo individuals who carried out the spamming. Some of these businesses are on their knees now due to the way the people they trusted with the online presence actually treated their sites. Not everyone who sends out link removal requests are evil spammers and some have been put in that position by misguided trust.

Its tempting to be revel in their misfortune but just remember that many of us spammed at some point in our online lifetime. If you do a quick search on clients of some of the most trustworthy looking SEO companies and do a quick check on their client's link profile you will see that its not hard to be duped by their claims of white hat SEO while in reality they carry out some of the most dangerous types of spamming methods.

Saying all that, I had an email today from someone who placed a comment on a disused site of mine with a link to their casino based site. I could not help myself and sent them a polite reply asking why their link was on our site in the first place. No response as of yet. :)

[Montresor]

...in many cases it was the companies or seo individuals who carried out the spamming.

The root cause is the consumer, for shopping their site promotion the same way they shop for toilet paper.

If the market demands services at rock bottom toilet paper pricing then that's what the market will deliver. Third world companies are doing what smart businesses around the world do, they give customers what they demand.

It's not a reflection of the quality of third world SEO companies. It's a reflection of the choices businesses make, to base choices on the lowest price. If you promote your company in the same way you wipe your ass, don't be surprised when all you get is crap.

[Shai]

That is true. But unless the consumers understand that they are NOT going to get real SEO for $150/month, then they will always get burnt. Without actually understanding what real SEO involves, they only have the information the site transmits in order to make their choice. If both companies A and B claim the same thing i.e organic, clean SEO but one does so for $200 and the other does do for $500 then you can sort of understand why they go with Site A.

In most vital industries, there are ombudsmen or some governmental checks to ensure fair trading and advertising. It is almost non existent in the SEO industry and people can and do get away with claiming pretty much anything they want.

[graeme_p]

In this case its a pretty savvy company in very competitive niche (payday loans etc.) so I suspect they took a calculated risk.

@Shai, SEO is not a vital industry in the way that, say, banking or utilities are!

[graeme_p]

@ken_b, yes, I know, but the template system is a bit arcane (at least its a template system I know, but the way it has been used is rather complex in this case) so I have not yet figured out how to do it.

[ken_b]

so I have not yet figured out how to do it.

You could use the Google Webmaster Tools remove URL
tool to get those pages out of the index.

[graeme_p]

@ken_b not fun for at least a few hundred pages!

I was planning to do it as a last resort, but managed to get the meta tag done. It was a matter of being stupid/forgotten how I did it because its been a while.